For about a week or 2, ive noticed that my red ludwigia and bronze crypt is suddenly starting to get holes in them. I noticed that before the red ludwigia get the holes, theres a brown spot there...then a hole develops. the holes arent completely circular. and the holes in bronze crypt arent circular at all but elongated.

I have hundreds of malaysian trumpet snails in the tank and have had them for years and never had this problem with with holes before. i dose twice a week with the recommended amount and dose with excel. i do a 30% water change once a week also.

ALTHOUGH!!! i have noticed some pond snails in the tank!!! POND SNAILS!!!! i crushed all that i saw, about 5 total. Every once in awhile, i see one pond snail pop up then i immediately kill it. How it got there? i have some crystal wort in my other tank and i had a pond snail... now theres no snails in the tank but pond snials in this one ... T_T

I have seen similar but only on large swords, specifically Echinodorus bleherae. It is nutrient related, not anything to do with those small snails.

Sorting out such issues is sometimes complex and takes a bit of experimenting. In my situation, I have solved the sword problem by using Magnesium sulfate, pure Epsom Salt. The plants were lacking magnesium; my tap water is very soft, < 1 d GH, and the magnesium in Flourish is clearly not sufficient for such heavy-feeing and fast growing plants. And these swords are enormous, with 3 double inflorescences this past year, and now they're sending out more. Most tap water in NA has more mineral, mainly calcium and magnesium, which are both macro-nutrients. The sulphur in ES is beneficial too, another macro-nutrient usually found in tap water in sufficient quantity.

But this can have a price; I have previously over-dosed ES and in that situation the swords developed an iron deficiency and the leaves became clear between the veining. Took months to fix.

My point is that you have to be careful with dosing nutrients, as an imbalance is easy to create and can be detrimental; so assess what is in your tap water plus what you are adding weekly, and look for the likely missing link. But then go slow. Sudden changes can be worse. And crypts will most likely melt with any such change.

The aquarist is one who must learn the ways of the biologist, the chemist, and the veterinarian.[unknown source]

Something we all need to remember: The fish you've acquired was quite happy not being owned by you, minding its own business. If you’re going to take it under your wing then you’re responsible for it. Every aspect of its life is under your control, from water quality and temperature to swimming space. [Nathan Hill in PFK]